VOLUME III / ISSUE XI / NOVEMBER 2019
THE ART OF
MAKING WINE
From the burden of fruit-bearing CEZAR KUSIK @cezareatsdirt Wine Contributor
the vines will rest while wine makers work
The harvest is finished, the last grapes are picked and hurriedly transported to the winery, and the vineyards are exasperated from months of labor and the burden of fruit-bearing. All the while, golden leafage begins to fall to the ground. It is time for the vines to rest and to slowly transition into the peaceful months of winter dormancy to recharge their vitality. But the wine maker's job is far from over, it is time to make some wine from the recently picked, loaded with flavor, grapes. The art of wine making is a complex and intricate process where nature’s magic, human ingenuity and knowledge, and some luck align perfectly. There is a precise sequence of steps to the basic operation of wine making. Within these steps, there are some nuanced variations depending on the color of the wine and its style. For this article, we will concern ourselves with the production of quality still, dry, white, rosé and red wines. Once the grapes arrive at the winery, they will be sorted by hand, which is page 166
the final stage in controlling the berries’ quality. The bunches are emptied onto a conveyor belt and sorting table and pass by the sorting crew. The damaged, unripe, or rotten fruit is eliminated to ensure that only the finest of the yield is passed to the next stage of crushing and pressing. So-called MODs (materials other than grapes) are also removed; these include leaves, branches, bugs, snails and any other impurities. Here, the wine maker decides whether or not to de-stem the grapes or proceed to crush them with their stems; it’s a stylistic choice since the stems contain additional flavoring and tannins.
Crushing comes first; historically, it was done by human foot treading and stomping the grapes into must, which is a mixture of the pulp of grape juice, skins, and pits. For the most part, today, mechanical presses have replaced the romantic dance of human stomping and eliminated sanitary concerns while improving the quality and longevity of the wine. This is also where the major difference between white and red wine production takes place. White wine juice is quickly separated from its skins and pits to avoid imparting of the astringency and coloring. The red grapes’ juice is left in contact with its skins and pits to extract the tannins and “red” pigment desirable for red wines. It
is a process called maceration, and the longer the maceration, the more color and tannins are garnered to wine. After the maceration, the must is pressed to maximize the volume of juice. Did you know: rosé wine is made from red grapes that are exposed to a shortened maceration to allow only a small amount of pigment to leach into the juice. The longer the maceration, the deeper rosé color achieved.
Once the pressing is done and juice separated from the solids, the proper fermentation can begin. Fermentation is nature’s magically simple process where, with the help of yeasts, sugar in the grape juice is converted into alcohol, releasing a little bit of warmth and CO2. A few decisions must be made at this stage which will have an impact on the style and quality of the final product. There are a variety of fermentation vessels where their shape, size, and, most importantly, the material they are made of matter. Fermenters can be made from stainless steel, concrete, wood, or clay differing in size from a few hundred to thousands of gallons. If your goal is a crisp, brightly flavored wine, you want to use a neutral, stainless steel fermenter. If you are aiming to make a fuller body wine with a richer, more decadent mouthfeel, wood is your best option.